A deprived background, an evil curse/spell in a desperate attempt to change your luck, overpowering parents (to show the oppression against the youth of America) and a handsome Prince Charming.
Well, Brave tries to turn most of this on it's head... most of it.
Brave follows new Disney/Pixar princess, Merida (Kelly MacDonald) as she grows up to be the young princess to her Father, Fergus (Billy Connolly) and her Mother, Elinor (Emma Thompson). While her Mother wants her to grow up prim and proper like a proper Princess and arranged to be married to one of the other clan leaders' eldest sons, Merida just wants her FREEDOM (say that with a Scottish accent Braveheart style!) So, she follows the blue magical willo-the-wisps into the forest and comes across the Witch (Julie Walters)... I mean woodcarver who grants her one wish. Merida wants to change her Mother for good. While this is all very well and good, the twist in the tale comes in the form of Merida's Father lifelong vendetta against a wild bear that took his leg when Merida was very young. I won't give anymore away than that (some say the twist is quite obvious, but I thought it tied in well!) What follows is Merida's inner-battle to find out the answer to the Witch's riddle about mending what is broken.
While Brave largely uses the well-trodden Disney Princess tale structure, it's use of a new "anti" Princess was refreshing to see (much like Tiana from The Princess and the Frog). No longer do we have the beautiful (if somewhat sexualised) teenage princess with long flowing locks wearing gowns with plunging necklines who fall in love instantly with their Prince Charming. Instead, with Brave, Merida must battle her own demons within inside herself. While this sometimes made the narrative to the story a little bit slow (especially during the second act when she starts to try and reverse the spell), because there is no external demons for her to face-off against. We are loosely introduced to another Prince who has the same curse put upon him as Merida (and her Mother) does, but we never truly understand his backstory to make him a worthwhile villain. Disney are usually very good at creating intriguing villains, unfortunately with Brave they kind of missed the mark.
In fact, my only major issue with Brave was that it seemed to under develop a lot of it's main characters. Merida is shown to be stubborn and not want to be the prim and proper princess that her Mother wants her to be because she is really into her Archery. However, it would have been nice to see how her Archery and 'tomboyishness' could have saved the day (to convince her Mother why Merida is actually right)... but that moment never happens.
It also would have been quite interesting to see how Elinor herself had come to terms with her own arranged marriage to Fergus, because she is so sure that an arranged marriage is the right thing for her daughter. However, all we get is a little argument scene where Merida slashes a family portrait, visually showing the rift between the family, but not really carrying much emotional weight.
However, it does sound like I'm moaning and I'm not, because I really enjoyed Brave. It was a gorgeous film to look at, from sweeping establishing shots of the Scottish countryside (which was strangely always in blazing sunshine... hmmm, is that the American view of Great Britain?!) to the intricate detail of each strand of Merida's flowing strawberry blonde hair. There's a scene in particular where Merida tries to challenge her arranged marriage by using her archery skills and we get to witness the arrow leave the bow in super-slowmotion and then whip through the air before slamming into the target. It's a beautiful shot that shows how far animation has come along and that sometimes... just sometimes... this new form of computer generated animation can surpass the traditional hand-drawn animation.
For an animation, the voice acting in Brave was pretty spot-on. MacDonald played the suppressed teenager trying to break-free of her parent's grasp very well, Thompson played the headstrong yet loving Mother very well and Connolly was surprisingly funny as Merida's Father - I was expecting to find him just as annoying in a voice role as in his acting roles.
Also, on a purely selfish note, it was really refreshing to see a Disney/Pixar tale set in Great Britain and not some far off American land or fantastical European setting. While it would have been really interesting to see the original Director (Brenda Chapman) and her vision to have most of the film set in the snowy highlands, the final product we got was just as pleasing on the eye.
So, if you like your Disney/Pixar Princess tales with a little bit of female empowerment sass to them, then Brave will be right up your street. It's a visual feast for the eyes that will keep adults and children alike entertained right up until the very end.
**** / *****
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